


Differentiation (Yet Far Too Similar)

by WrittenKinzy18



Series: Winged Multiverse [4]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Aftertale Sans | Geno (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Aftertale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Undertale Multiverse | UTMV (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Wings, Angst, DestructiveDeath - Freeform, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Error Was Geno, Errortale Sans (Undertale), Errortale Sans Needs a Hug (Undertale), Family Feels, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Past Relationship(s), Protective Errortale Sans (Undertale), Reapertale Sans (Undertale), Reapertale Sans (Undertale)/Aftertale Sans (Undertale), Underfresh Sans (Undertale), Undertale Genocide Route, Undertale Saves and Resets, Unrequited Love, Wingfic, afterdeath, but it's in the past, glitch brothers, he just hates it, it's complicated - Freeform, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 13:54:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29917887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WrittenKinzy18/pseuds/WrittenKinzy18
Summary: Error finds a useless copy of his Aftertale. The last thing this multiverse needed was another Error, so he sets out to destroy it ahead of time.If only he had the actual strength to do so.(Part of the Winged series, but set long before Ink and Error's truce.)
Relationships: Error & Geno, Error & Geno & Fresh, Frisk & Sans (Undertale), Papyrus & Sans (Undertale), Reaper/Geno, Sans & Sans (Undertale), Sans/Sans (Undertale)
Series: Winged Multiverse [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2030311
Comments: 11
Kudos: 64





	Differentiation (Yet Far Too Similar)

**Author's Note:**

> I was working on a new story for Classic, but wasn't feeling too hot about it, so I revisited this old WIP instead. Just thought I could explain the start of the relationship between Geno and Error.
> 
> And heck, why not throw some Fresh and angst in there?

Contrary to popular belief, Error _does_ know where he came from.

He’s heard the rumors, as antisocial as he was. The multiverse had just as bad of a grapevine as any other large group of know-it-alls. Many people think that because Ink just popped up out of nowhere — having either been created as he was or just forgetting his AU in that airheaded skull — that Error, his opposite, was the same. Others thought he lost those memories in an insane killing spree, as if he were so lost to his goal when he first became the Destroyer that it drove him mad enough to forget everything before that. Fuck, even more believed he simply destroyed his AU the moment it was made and just mixed that first one with the thousand others he’d eliminated afterwards, as if it meant nothing to him at all.

(That last one was, in his opinion, the most ridiculous. He may be a bit of a soulless bastard, but he remembered every AU he’d killed. The first one was a knock off Dusttale, not his home.

At the time, he didn’t know the timelines he was looking at weren’t even his own.)

It was all so wrong he could almost laugh — that is, if it wasn’t so infuriating.

_Of_ _course_ he remembered which AU was his.

He was the first ever Geno; the first Aftertale. It was hard to forget the pain of a slash wound, the numbness in his eye socket as his skull melted, the burn of Determination injected in his bones, or the absolute misery that was the Save Screen, so similar to the empty nothingness of his Anti-void.

As much as he _hated_ his AU and the suffering it caused its inhabitants, he remembered it. He remembered spending the morning with his brother, happily eating terrible breakfast spaghetti before leaving for work. He remembered meeting Frisk for the first time, the merciful child they were. He remembered meeting Chara for the first, second, third, fourth, thousandth time. He remembered teleporting to the Save Screen, meeting Reaper, meeting _himself_ , fighting to end their pain for good.

He most certainly remembered getting out of the Save Screen, but in a way none of them had desired.

He had been angry at Sans’ attempts to convince him of another plan, dragging Papyrus into it as he did. He’d been so _frustrated_ when they all teamed up against _him_ , as if he were the villain, rather than the murderous child that had started it all in the first place. He was trying to help them have _peace_ , for fuck’s sake. Even _Reaper_ tried to talk him out of it, breaking so many rules by revealing himself in front of non-dying mortals to try and “help him.”

He’d gotten mad — as is usual for him, even now — and in a fit of betrayal, he’d teleported without a location in mind.

That Aftertale was now happily on the Surface, almost immediately after he’d left. He wasn’t sure if it was _because_ he left, meaning he’d actually been the bad guy the entire time, or if the plan he’d disregarded had actually worked. He wanted to be mad about it, seeing them live a good life without him, but in truth, it just made him sad. Really, for him, that was almost synonymous with anger.

Error may regret his decisions, but that didn’t mean he’d _forgotten_ them.

Yellow eyes scanned the Anti-Void around him, remembering when he’d first gotten here. He’d been overjoyed at first, realizing he was out of the Save Screen for once. It didn’t take long for him to realize this white space wasn’t much different. In fact, it was considerably worse. At least the Save Screen allowed him to view the timeline. At least people knew about and could get _into_ the Save Screen. He couldn’t even tell if walking in one direction circled him back around to where he started. There was no patch of grass to signify any familiarity. There wasn’t anything at all. Here, with endless light for as far as the eye could see, he was truly alone.

He cried for help, screaming and yelling and cursing the white space around him until his voice cracked with the effort. You’d think, being the God of Death, his boyfriend would have been able to find him. He wasn’t half dusted anymore, but his sliver of a soul was still on the verge of dying, wasn’t it?

Nobody came.

Of course, now Error knew the Anti-Void was inaccessible. Most didn’t even know it existed before he became the Destroyer. How he ended up here in the first place was beyond him.

It was probably a good thing no one knew, really. Being in the Anti-Void for too long fucked with a person’s code far beyond repair. He didn’t know how long he’d been there — how long it took for his bones to darken or his magic to corrupt; how long it took for his own tears to burn into his cheeks; how long it took for his Hope to diminish enough to lose his feathers, but also lose the ability to finally Fall Down as well.

(It was more than a few weeks, at the very least. When he’d had Blueberry trapped here once upon a time, the most the little Sans experienced was a slight _whispering_ of the voices Error heard. He let him go not too long after.)

He didn’t know. He also didn’t exactly plan on finding out.

Which was where his issue lies now.

Error glared heatedly at the code screen in front of him, crunching the wrapper of his half-eaten chocolate bar.

A new Aftertale had been created, apparently. He didn’t know when or how long it had been there, of course. Unlike Ink, who had access to every AU all at once from his fabled Doodle Sphere, Error could only transport to those he found manually or had been in before. It was a longer, more complicated process. Amongst the millions of universes there likely were, he could probably only travel to a handful as he was now without further digging.

In other words, he’d found it by chance.

The idiot of a Protector had made too many AUs again, tipping the balance too much for Error’s liking. As such, he knew he’d need to destroy a few in the next week or so in order to keep the Multiverse from collapsing completely. In searching for a few outliers that wouldn’t be missed by anyone other than the Stars, he’d stumbled upon this one.

It was almost identical to the code of his own Aftertale. It wasn’t his, of course. While the original Aftertale wasn’t gone (Ink was far more serious on keeping the original AUs safe, not to mention it being strictly under Reaper’s protection as well), he knew its code better than any other universe. The original Aftertale was missing a very small piece of Sans’ code, which everyone assumed was linked to Geno’s “death”.

He never bothered to correct them.

This Aftertale, however, was whole. It was also wingless, interestingly enough. Wingless AUs weren’t rare, but they were uncommon enough to raise an eyebrow every so often.

Still, wings or not, it was a copy of _his_ AU. Error didn’t know how he felt about that.

Heaving a sigh, the glitch stuffed the rest of his chocolate into his mouth before tossing the empty wrapper a few feet from his bean bag. Hands free, he focused entirely on exploring the universe’s contents.

“It’s not… _exactly_ the same,” he muttered to himself, furrowing a brow frustratedly.

_‘Could there be two Errors?’_

“I don’t want to find out.”

_‘Maybe they’d have to fight to the death!’_

_‘Error can’t die, though.’_

_‘Maybe another Error could kill an Error?’_

_‘They could delete each other’s code, maybe.’_

_‘That would be such a boring battle though…’_

_‘Haha, just a matter of who can type faster!’_

“Fucking hell, shut up!” Error growled, pinching the bridge of his nose. His webbed wings twitched in his anger. “I’m trying to fucking concentrate, assholes.”

_‘Ah, come on, Error! Don’t you want a look-a-like?’_

“No. No I don’t. Now shut up.” Thankfully, this time most of the voices listened. The few that continued their chatter lowered to a whisper he could easily ignore. With a relieved sigh, the Destroyer turned back to his work.

After a few moments, he was feeling more unnerved than before. The Universe was too similar to his own for him to be comfortable. What’s more, they seemed to be nearing the final confrontation, where Sans would drag Papyrus into the Save Screen to try and reason with the Geno. A quick peak at Geno’s small, glitched code showed he had much the same personality as Error had. He was a bit calmer, maybe less prone to anger, but it was close enough.

There was no guarantee this universe would go down the same path, but Error didn’t want to take any chances. Two Destroyers would be too many, especially if one of them was a beginner.

When Error had first realized he could read and understand codes, he had immediately jumped to the nearest timeline he found. As soon as he’d seen Frisk killing a monster, his rage took over and he destroyed the timeline immediately. It was much easier to do when he had access to code. It wasn’t as simple as deleting it all at once, as he had to actually demolish the heart of the world (usually Frisk or a Sans), but in the end that rarely took longer than an hour. From there, he set out to destroy timeline after timeline, aiming to end Resets for _good_.

It took an encounter with Ink and Dream, nearly twenty destroyed worlds in, to realize he’d been destroying AUs rather than his own timelines.

Still, that only enhanced his goal: destroy the Multiverse, and no one would have to endure another Genocide route.

Obviously, that goal has been modified repeatedly since then. He didn’t know of AUs like Candytale, Dancetale, or Littletale then, where “suffering” was hardly a factor. Even worlds like Underlust, Outertale, or Underswap, all of which were stuck in Resets of all kinds, had happy endings. Even his _own_ Universe fell under that category in the end. Destroying actual innocent, happy monsters who _weren’t_ tormented by unending death… didn’t sit well with him.

He couldn’t quit Destroying, of course. Multiverse overcrowding was definitely a thing, and he quickly found out that too many AUs would corrupt the Original Undertale as well. If he stopped completely, the Multiverse would die anyway.

Balance. It seemed he was the only one that understood that, when it came to AUs.

But a _new_ Error wouldn’t. If Error let this happen, he’d end up fighting _himself_ , just to keep the other one from Destroying original or happy AUs.

Wouldn’t that throw the Stars for a loop?

_‘Couldn’t you talk to the new Error though?’_

_‘Yeah, you could always explain it to him and have some help.’_

_‘Think of all the prank material. You would_ literally _be in two places at once.’_

He rolled his eyelights exasperatedly. “Stars, I thought I told you all to be quiet,” he grumbled, wings falling to the ground in disappointment. “And that wouldn’t fucking work anyway. _Either_ of those ideas. I highly doubt a new Error would listen to anyone. I didn’t listen to Sans, and he fucking _was_ me. And this is a fucking Wingless AU. Everyone would notice a damn difference between us.”

_‘I mean, I doubt Ink would.’_

He actually snorted at that.

_‘Why don’t you find Geno before he… er, errors? He’d be in your Anti-Void, so he’s not alone._ You _could be that someone you had tried to call out for.’_

“I’d never find him in this hell hole. Too big.”

_‘You could just kill the Geno. Your universe turned out alright without you, so theirs would too, right?’_

That… was a fair point, actually.

It would be a lot easier to just delete Geno from the AU and let the rest do whatever it was they did to banish Chara and free the monsters. It would be exactly like his own; happy, free, and without Resets.

He squinted his eye sockets. That would be two almost identical AUs, though. What was the point of that? His whole job was to get rid of useless copies, unfinished worlds, and dead wastelands. In order to make up for Ink’s recent creations, Error had to get rid of at least five universes soon. That’s how he found this one in the first place. It was useless. Why should it stay when so many others like it fell to his hands?

He voiced this to the annoyances in his head.

_‘Well, you can’t just… destroy it, right? I mean…’_

_‘Why not? What’s the difference between this AU and all the other’s he’s killed?’_

Error didn’t grace that with a response, staring down at the code in front of him.

Really, why was he so bothered here? It wasn’t his friends and family, after all. It was just a copy. They were all living happily on the Surface without him, Reaper guard dog and all. They’d gotten their happy ending. He couldn’t afford to be sentimental here. Destroying this universe would be nothing but a mercy for them, and the rest of the Multiverse.

Preventing even the _chance_ of another Destroyer would be saving thousands.

He was just being stupid.

With a grunt and a slight flap of his wings, Error pushed himself to his feet and walked over to the nest of cloth and pillows piled messily on his string hammock. He snatched his black and blue coat from on top and threw it over his shoulders, quickly buttoning the buttons underneath the wing slits. Slipping his stolen shoes on, the Destroyer turned back to the code screen. With a wave of his hand, the glitched box expanded into a portal.

_‘Oh, he’s actually going to do it.’_

_‘Really thought we’d be able to convince him otherwise.’_

_‘Man, there goes my hopes for two Errors…’_

As he stepped out of the Anti-Void, the voices dimmed considerably — a wonderful sound, or lack thereof. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Error walked into the too familiar darkness of the Save Screen, closing the portal behind him.

He tried not to look around too much. He knew what he’d see. Despite the years of time, the sight was still engraved in his skull.

It wasn’t hard to find the AU’s Geno. Far ahead of him was the familiar patch of grass, surrounded by the only source of light in the Save Screen. An eerily familiar skeleton stood there, alone, his back towards Error. His bright red scarf fluttered in a nonexistent wind, the white of his coat standing out like chalk on a blackboard. Nearby was a cage of bones encasing a human child, who stared pleadingly at the white and red clad monster.

A Frisk and a Sans. It was almost too easy. Even if it turned out Geno and Frisk were not the core of the Universe, as neither had their full soul, he could simply hold onto them until Sans inevitably brought Chara right to him.

Geno likely wouldn’t fight back, anyway. Error came to do exactly what the other desired.

In one swift movement, Error’s hands were brought to his eyes and strings encompassed the sliver of a soul in front of him. Geno cried out in surprise as he was forcibly turned around, coming face to face with the Destroyer. Helpless, Frisk called out and waved a hand through the bone bars of their cage to no avail.

Error plastered an easy smirk on his face, glitches rippling up his spine. “Well well, what do we have here?” he drawled, wings fanning out menacingly behind him. “A little glitch in the system, hm?”

“Let him go!” Frisk yelled, glaring at the darker skeleton.

He snorted, waving a hand dismissively. “Don’t worry. You’ll get your turn.”

“Wha- Who are you?” Geno breathed. His singular visible eye socket squinted in confusion. “You’re… me?”

“Well, a _version_ of you.” Error chuckled darkly. “Name’s Error. I’m here to finish what you’ve failed to do so many times. Your universe is a waste of space; a dangerous one, at that.”

The other blinked, eyelights flickering uncertainly to the sharp, yellow talons hooked on the wrists of his wings. “You’re… here to kill us then?”

“That is what I said.”

Suspiciously, Geno glared back into his red eye sockets. “All of us, or just me? I can’t die here.”

“Oh, trust me, you very much can. I’m taking out this entire Universe, no worries. Really, you shouldn’t be so concerned. It’s what you wanted right?”

“Wait! Please, don’t! We can-!”

A glowing red bone shot up from the ground in front of Frisk, causing them to yelp and jolt back. Error glared heatedly at the human. “I’m not listening to a whiny little _brat._ ”

This didn’t deter the child at all. “There has to be a better way!”

“This _is_ the better-“

_“Sans!”_

He froze.

_“Are you okay, brother? Did you have another nightmare?”_

Blinking, Error turned his gaze back to Geno — or rather, behind Geno. There was a small screen behind the white skeleton, similar to the ones Error himself uses to see universes. On the screen, the font brothers were in their living room, obviously early in the morning. Sans looked shaken, clutching to a dusty red scarf, despite his brother being right at the top of the stairs.

He couldn’t help but stare.

He wasn’t stupid. The Papyrus had no large, white and orange wings on his back. He knew this wasn’t _his_ brother and Sans. The Destroyer couldn’t freeze up like this every time he goes to a universe with a Papyrus that wears a red scarf and ridiculous armor. He’d long since overcome that hold up.

No, it was more his surroundings mixed with the imagery in front of him. He felt as though he’d been thrown back in time, and that heavy hopelessness from then came crashing back into him. It all hit too close to home.

“Please…”

Frisk was talking again. The Destroyer glanced at them from the corner of his red eye sockets. Their hands were holding onto a white and red bone respectively in a white knuckled grip, looking like a criminal behind bars. In a way, they were. Their squinted eyes stared pleadingly back at him.

“One more chance. Please… for them…”

“No.” His gaze was once again drawn to Geno. The skeleton looked tired. Error knew he was beyond that by now. “It won’t matter. There’s no happy ending here. Just do it.”

Talk about an angel versus devil situation. It was almost ironic, considering it was Error that had _actual_ devil wings.

He wasn’t supposed to meddle in other Universes’ stories. There was no point, and he’d almost certainly just fuck everything up in the end. The most he ever did was dump random things in random places or steal a couple items here and there. He did his best not to reveal himself to people unaware of the Multiverse or who weren’t next on the list to Destroy.

He had a job, a purpose, to get rid of the bad and the pointless, not to fix what was already broken.

But _dammit_ , he regretted his choices before, didn’t he?

He scrunched his eye sockets closed, heaving a sigh. This Aftertale wasn’t _exactly_ like his. There was a _slight_ chance of differentiation. If he stepped back and let it go through its story as normal, he could always come back and stop it if he thought it was taking the wrong path.

Which it _would,_ he hissed to himself, never one for optimism. Still…

One chance. A chance he never got.

As much as he doubted anything would actually come of it, he supposed it wouldn’t _hurt_.

“Fine.”

Both the Geno and Frisk looked hopeful at his answer, neither knowing who he was agreeing with. That look fell immediately from Geno when those strings released his soul.

“No, wait-!“

“You get this _one_ opportunity, kid,” Error snarled, folding his wings inward. “If things fuck up the way I think they will, I won’t hesitate again.”

They brightened immediately. “Thank you! Will you-?”

“I’m not fucking helping you,” he snapped. “This is all on you and those idiots,” he pointed towards the skeletons now hugging on the screen, his soul clenching briefly, “to figure your shit out, alright?”

A little disappointed, the human nodded.

Geno, tired of being ignored, barked, “Dammit, listen to me!” before reaching out to grab Error’s shirt. The brief contact to his collarbone had the Destroyer tensing and glitching heavily, shocking the other into letting go. Almost immediately, a wall of glitched red bones shot up between them, pushing Geno to the floor.

When he regained his bearings, he was shrouded in the shadow of the Destroyer, wings spread up and out behind him while those red and yellow eyes practically burned.

_“Don’t touch me.”_

Neither Frisk nor Geno had the words to respond to that. The smaller skeleton merely nodded briefly, the glitchy box in front of his eye flaring fearfully. Error glared a moment longer, his fists clenched by his sides. After a tense moment, he raised his hand to snap, disintegrating the strings that hung limply around the two. Finally, Error whipped around and walked away. He disappeared into a portal back to his Anti-Void.

Almost immediately, the voices were back to their normal volume.

_‘Holy shit.’_

_‘Has he ever backed out of destroying a Universe before?’_

_‘I mean, kinda? But that was when he kidnapped Blue to send a message, wasn’t it? Before he convinced Error the Multiverse wasn’t complete shit.’_

_‘I don’t know if I’m disappointed, or excited.’_

“Fuck off,” Error muttered half-heartedly, already opening the code for a random universe again. Their words still hit hard. If he set out to destroy a universe, the only thing stopping him was the Star Sanses or, occasionally, Nightmare’s Gang. What happened now was… disconcerting.

It showed weakness. He couldn’t afford that in his line of work.

Cursing under his breath, Error ran a hand down his face exasperatedly. His wings dragged along the white floors as he paced, still allowing the code to flip through AUs rapidly.

Whatever. It was fine. It would likely be destroyed later on anyway. There was no way that Aftertale was different enough to _not_ cause an issue. Geno would go down the same spiral he did, only this time, someone would be there to kill them before it got out of hand.

Still, he’d keep an eye on it.

Until then, he still had a job to do. Peaking between his fingers, Error scanned the code box. It showcased a Dusttale version of Underswap, winged, barely on its tenth Reset.

Good enough.

-:(o):-

Geno apparently didn’t feel the need to tell his version of Sans about the Destroyer’s appearance. Whether that was because he didn’t think it was important enough, or because he was letting Sans experience genocide after genocide as a “lesson” and therefore never saw the other skeleton anyway, he wasn’t sure. It hardly mattered in the end.

Ink had questioned him in their last fight, stupidly curious despite literally missing an arm from their scuffle. How he figured out Error had been there was beyond him, considering he hadn’t actually done any lasting damage to the AU. He hadn’t even left any strings behind! It was annoying, to say the least. Thankfully, he dropped it quickly when Error refused to answer long enough for the squid to forget he even asked.

Speaking of the squid, he’d been on a bit of a creating spree for whatever reason. Surprise surprise, that meant Error was working more as well. He didn’t get nearly as much time to himself as he’d expected he would have. He couldn’t keep an eye on the Aftertale universe as much as he’d like, let alone have free time in between.

He was behind on Undernovela now. Error blamed that entirely for his ever-growing pissy mood.

Finally, after nearly a week of waiting, the Aftertale Sans tricked Geno into bringing Chara and Papyrus into the Save Screen, thus starting exactly what Error needed to actually see.

_This_ was their one shot.

Watching the same events that lead to the shitty life he had now was just as painful as he remembered it.

Still, now was definitely not the time to back out.

So far, it went exactly the same way. Geno froze at seeing Papyrus, Chara was the most confused Error had ever seen them, and Sans was explaining everything in the vaguest, punniest way he could. However, from the outside, Error was able to see things he hadn’t noticed when he was in the moment, like the way Sans winked in Frisk’s direction, or the certain lack of a weapon on Chara. He could hear the quiver in Papyrus’ voice the moment he laid eye sockets on the mangled version of his brother, or the slightest shake to Sans’ hands, exposing his true anxiety in the situation.

It was interesting, to say the least — a whole new perspective, quite literally.

Still, Geno was as hard-pressed in his decision as ever. Error was almost… disappointed.

The white clad skeleton teleported past his brother, immediately starting a fight with Sans and Chara, putting up an invisible blockade to prevent Papyrus from interfering. Drowned in desperation, Geno sent attack after attack at the two, still arguing all the while. He winced every time Papyrus tried to interrupt, but otherwise ignored the taller skeleton all together.

Error had to lean forward a bit in interest here. This was around the time Reaper stepped in, meaning the fight would likely go differently from here on.

It was just another reason why this Geno didn’t have a chance. If Error lost it with three loved ones trying their best, there was no way this one would come to his senses with only two.

His wings folded inward reflexively at the thought of the god. Error never did gather the confidence to tell Reaper what happened, allowing him to believe his love had just slipped through his fingers, another death to add to the many he witnessed every day. He, as Geno, hadn’t even admitted to liking the god the same way, only considering him a “boyfriend” (or, rather, ex-boyfriend) now.

He laughed bitterly.

It wouldn’t matter now anyway. Though his soul still ached occasionally, Error had long since accepted that he’d never get that love back. Reaper hardly saw the Destroyer as anything more than a nuisance and the source of his constant overtime, sending annoyed or exasperated glances his way when their jobs inevitably overlapped.

Their relationship was nonexistent. He’d much rather let Reaper grief the loss of his boyfriend than find out said boyfriend was just a pain-in-his-ass murderer now.

While Sans and Geno fought and dodged respectively, neither getting through to the other, Error turned his gaze to the other skeleton in the situation. Every attempt Papyrus made at that invisible wall only ended with the same, unforgiving result. Even still, frantic to help, he kept trying, yelling all the while. His pleas were hardly audible over the sound of Gaster Blasters and bone attacks, but Error could hear them as though the younger was standing right beside him.

_“Please! Stop! We can talk about this! Why are you two fighting? I don’t… I don’t understand! Please, stop trying to hurt each other! This isn’t right!”_

“Nothing about any of this is right, Paps…” Error grumbled, curling his wings closer to himself. He startled himself with the use of that familiar nickname. It’d been a long time since he’d referred to any Papyrus as _Paps_.

_‘Ooooh, Error’s slipping!’_

_‘This is pathetic. They aren’t your family! Why are you being so stupid?’_

_‘Leave him alone! He’d never encountered another Aftertale before! This is probably weird for him!’_

Groaning, Error lowered his head to his lap, clenching his teeth. He _was_ being stupid. He was the fucking Destroyer! He shouldn’t be as shaken up over this as he was. He’d killed thousands of Sanses _and_ Papyruses before, shattering their souls practically in front of their faces. _He shouldn’t care._

But he did.

He hated it, but he _did._

Despite what everyone thought, Error didn’t _like_ his job. He didn’t get joy through watching a monster dust, or even seeing a human die, no matter what they’d done. He did it because he _had to._

And here was another version of him, doing the exact same thing.

The only difference here was this Geno _didn’t have to._ He thought he did, but he didn’t.

“Fuckin’ hell.”

When Error looked up again, Papyrus had freed Frisk from their boney cage. With their sheer amount of Determination, they broke through the barrier keeping Papyrus from the fight, allowing the other in.

But Error could see the look in Geno’s eye. It was a look he recognized all too well.

Neither Sans nor Papyrus would be able to get through to him. Their “last chance” really was for nothing.

With a sigh, Error slumped tiredly before moving to stand up. Oh well. At least he can say he tried. Not that anyone else would see it like that. He’d continue to be the heartless Destroyer, another dead world tallied to his miles long body count.

_‘Aw, I was actually kinda hoping they’d make it…’_

_‘Eh, oh well. It’s just another AU.’_

_‘Yeah, not like we haven’t seen a thousand seemingly hopeful AUs get destroyed. Probably for the better.’_

_‘…Are you really not going to help?’_

Error froze in the process of opening a portal. “Why should I?” he hissed.

_‘Wouldn’t you have wanted someone to?’_

“It doesn’t matter. I was an idiot then, and so is he. Nothing is going to change. Besides, he had his chance to get help right now.” He gestured to Papyrus, who stood just behind Geno, speaking gently. The fighting had stopped, but he knew that wouldn’t last. “If he won’t listen to his brother or, fuck, to _himself_ , why should I interfere?”

_‘He won’t listen to his_ past _self.’_

“Same _fucking_ thing!” He didn’t know why he was arguing with them. He never talks this long with the voices. They never allowed just one to talk this long, either.

_‘All you’ve been thinking about since you’ve found this AU was your regret,’_ the voice continued softly. _‘You regret not listening to them. You regret being the bad guy, the one holding them back from getting that happy ending they have now, so much so that you refuse to go back.’_

“I don’t go back because Reaper and Ink protect that AU religiously.”

_‘We both know that’s not true.’_

_‘You went back once! You stopped attacking when you realized it was Aftertale,_ then _Reaper showed up.’_

_‘Reaper didn’t even attack you, too. He just asked what you were doing.’_

Error’s hands were shaking. His wings pressed firmly to his side. “Shut… Shut the _fuck_ up…”

_‘Are you really going to sit back and let them have the same fate? Or kill them all, as if they don’t deserve happiness?’_

“Shut up!”

_‘Does that make_ you _any better than your Chara, Geno?’_

**“SHUT UP!”**

Silence answered him, broken only by his own heavy breathing and the soft speaking still coming from the screen. Error clenched his fist tightly, crossing his arms around his chest in a hopeless attempt to hold himself. The endless white around him was suddenly too much. He brought his wings in around him to block its view, shrouding himself in their dark webbing.

He _wasn’t_ going to interfere. That wasn’t his _fucking_ job. That wasn’t even _Ink’s_ job. They weren’t supposed to interfere drastically with AUs, just let them run their course. He was no Protector, no _hero_. _It wasn’t any of his business._

Slowly, those yellow eyelights turned back up to the universe of interest, peaking through a crack in his wings.

Geno had his face lowered into his red scarf, hands clenched at his sides. Unbeknown to Papyrus, who still stood behind him with that big, hope-filled grin, arms wide to accept a hug that would never come, the glitched skeleton’s expression was slowly souring.

He _wasn’t going to…_

Geno’s eyelight lit up furiously, shoulders shaking in frustration. The glitches in front of his melted eye fizzled sharply.

He…

“Fuck…” Error practically whispered before raising his voice. _“Fuck!”_

The portal had barely opened all the way before Error was flying through it. In a matter of seconds, he stood between Papyrus and Geno, wings spread to protect the former from the attack he knew was coming. Just on time, Geno spun around, a sharpened bone in his hand, slicing it across Error’s webbed membrane.

Everyone in the area froze.

When Geno eventually shook himself out of his shock, his face went impossibly pale. “I… I didn’t…” he stuttered, the bone dissolving in his hand.

Error merely flicked his newly injured wing, splattering a few royal blue droplets to the floor. He glared down at the white skeleton. His hands still shook, and his breathing was still hitching, but he didn’t let his resolve waver.

“I _generously_ gave you a chance to fix your mistakes,” he growled lowly, “and you did _nothing_ with it.”

“I…”

“Okay, who the _fuck_ is that?” Chara shouted, throwing their arms out. They still sat on Sans’ shoulders, who looked just as confused.

“I, uh, couldn’t answer that one, kiddo.”

“There are _way_ too many skeletons in this fucking room, what the hell.”

“Well?” Geno flinched under his gaze. Error stepped forward, towering over the other despite being nearly the same height. “Nothing to say for yourself? You almost attack someone — someone you _care_ about — and you’re not going to even talk about it?”

That seemed to spark something in the other skeleton, at least. A bit of defiance and anger trickled back into his stance. “Like you can talk, _Destroyer_.”

Error snorted humorlessly. He had no idea how the other found out about his role, but he couldn’t bring himself to care that much. No doubt, it had something to do with how Ink knew he’d been here. “Ah, so you find this small shred of information and think you know all, do you?”

“You can hardly get mad at me for trying to do the exact thing you were _made_ to do!”

“Made to do, huh?” Error smirked, though it looked more like an animalistic snarl. “And what’s _making_ you do all this? Killing everyone in your universe, tormenting your own self, attacking the brother you claim to love _so dearly?”_

“I didn’t…! I wouldn’t have-!”

“Wouldn’t have what? Hit him? The _fuck_ is this then, hm?” He held up his wing, practically shoving the bleeding tear between his first and second phalange into the other’s face. “Is that not an attack, aimed for Papyrus? Sure, it didn’t have much intent behind it. It’d likely only take a couple points off his HP, but it was still you _lashing out_ like a _child._ You can’t deny that fact.”

Geno scowled, shoving the wing away from him. Glitches shot up the limb from the contact, but it was short enough for Error to ignore with nothing more than flickering eyelights. “This wouldn’t be happening had you done your _job!”_

“Yeah, but I decided to have a stars damned heart and actually let you all fucking try something _other_ than the same damned plan!”

“It’s better for everyone to stop existing than for them all to get dusted over and over again!”

“Usually, I’d fucking agree, but look around you, asshole! You’ve got three fuckers here ready to help you find another way; another way that, I assure you, _does_ exist!”

“The fuck do you know?! All you do is destroy stuff! Why now do you suddenly decide to have _actual_ mercy when it’s not wanted?!”

“Not wanted- _you’re_ the only person here that _doesn’t fucking want it_ , dickbag! And even then, I call bullshit!”

“You don’t know shit!”

“I know more than any of you assholes _combined_ because _I am you!”_

It took a moment for that to register in Geno’s mind. He stared at the darker monster in an angered confusion. When the information finally clicked, his eye socket widened, and his shoulders tensed up. Nobody else seemed to be fairing any better around them.

Error’s glare narrowed to mere red slits, his wings folding down and back as he leaned forward. “Take a good, long _fucking_ look, Geno. You continue down the path you’re going right now, and you’re going to end up a dark, glitched, _miserable_ mess just like me, doomed to kill and kill and kill for eternity and unable to fucking die yourself. Everyone will despise even the briefest mention of your name, and you’ll be _alone_ with no one to talk to, let alone rely on. You’re only company would be the voices in your skull and a 90’s parrot fucker. Is that _really_ what you fucking want? ‘Cause by all means, you can _fucking have it.”_

“You… It-It wouldn’t be like that if you just destroyed-!”

“Dammit, I’m trying to fucking help you, asshole! I don’t fucking do this, so take the fucking opportunity!” Error stomped forward, grabbing Geno’s scarf and shirt collar. Careful not to make any actual contact, he pulled the other close to his own face. “ _Listen_ to them and try something else for fucking once! I’ve personally seen hundreds of universes lost to their own Resets and Genocides _still_ get to the Surface and start a new life, _mine fucking included,_ so no matter what _bullshit_ excuse you want to throw at me, I _know_ it’s fucking possible. Throw your life away all you fucking want, but _don’t_ drag your fucking family and friends down with you.” With that, Error tossed Geno to the floor unceremoniously, crossing his arms across his chest with a grumpy huff. His large wings snapped out briefly before folding neatly behind him, no longer needed to instinctively make him look larger.

There was silence for a moment before Papyrus spoke up behind him. “I… do not understand what is happening right now, but Darker-Sans is correct! We don’t need to fight each other!”

“I…” Shaking, Geno’s gaze flickered between the two of them. The fear and residual anger faded slowly from his posture as he hunched in on himself. His knees pulled closer to his chest. “I’m just… I’m _so tired_ …”

A hand was placed on his shoulder, causing him to look up behind him. Sans, still balancing Chara on his shoulders, winked down at him with a comforting smile. “ _Tibia_ honest, I’m pretty _bone tired_ as well.”

Error, Chara, and Papyrus all simultaneously groaned. Sans sent Error an almost offended look.

“What kind of a Sans doesn’t like puns?”

“The kind of Sans that’s heard every single pun from a billion versions of himself for fucking years on end,” the Destroyer hissed. “It’s all clever until you’re getting them shoved in your face sarcastically while trying to kill them.”

“Uh, point taken.” Error just rolled his eyelights.

Geno started laughing. The attention turned back to him at this, most of them relieved that he was smiling once again. That relief quickly turned to concern when they saw those laughs turn to sobs and tears streaming down his face.

Papyrus, being the ever caring one he was, quickly dropped to the floor beside him, scooping the smaller skeleton into his arms. “Nyeh! No one can cry around the Great Papyrus!”

This only made Geno cry harder, hands clutching Papyrus’ armor and scarf as he whispered “I’m sorry” over and over again.

Grimacing, Error turned and started to away from the group. He wasn’t planning on staying for any familial drama. The only drama he wanted to watch was in Undernovela from the comfort of his bean bag, which was currently calling his name. Unfortunately, he was stopped by Frisk, who stood in front of him with a large grin. He glared down at them. “Move it, brat.”

“Are you not staying?”

“Why the fuck would I stay? I already did more than I fucking should have. All this emotional bullshit afterwards is your issue.”

Frisk didn’t seem satisfied with his answer. They reached forward for his hand before pausing and dropping their own back to their side. At least the kid was observant. “I think you should stay,” they insisted.

He scrunched up his face. “What reason could you _possibly_ have for having _me_ stick around?”

“Because I want you to.”

Scoffing, Error moved to walk around them. “No, you don’t.”

“Yes I do!” The kid jogged to catch up. “I don’t really know who you are, but you’re a part of this as well! You should be here while we talk things out, if only to provide a new opinion!”

“Go away, kid.”

“Plus, you said people don’t like you very much, but you seem really nice, and-“

_“Nice?”_ Cackling, Error whipped around to face the other. “I’m far from _nice_ , kid. I’m only here to prevent another _me_ running around. I ain’t here to play house with you.”

Frisk puffed out their cheeks and crossed their arms. “That’s _not_ why you’re here. If that were it, you would have killed Geno and I a week ago!”

“Yeah, well, maybe I fucking should have.”

“But you _didn’t,_ because, deep down, you _are_ nice, and you wanted to help!”

Error didn’t really have much to say to that. Not because he didn’t want to argue, but more out of shock of someone genuinely calling him _nice_. Only one other person had made the same claim Frisk was: a certain blue skeleton of whom he let go nearly moments after he proclaimed this opinion of Error.

Fuck.

“… Fine.” Frisk pumped a fist in the air, gaining a scowl from the winged skeleton. “Don’t get all fucking excited. I’m still not joining your emotional bullshit.”

“You don’t have to!”

Together, the two of them walked right back to rest of the group. Sans had finally set Chara back on the ground, and Papyrus had released Geno of his tight embrace. The other child was looking around at them nervously, their eyes continuously flickering back to Error himself. He smirked when their eyes met, making the child sweat. Geno was still wiping tears from his face with his scarf, desperately trying to hide the evidence as if they all hadn’t seen it.

Sans, not one for standing while others were sitting, flopped to sit cross-legged on the floor beside his brother. Frisk joined him seconds later, followed hesitantly by Chara. Error strung up a quick swing with his strings to sit on instead, allowing his wings to drape to the floor. Chara started at the swing puzzledly, trying to find where it was attached to, as the Save Screen had no ceiling. He ignored them. “Now,” Sans started, gesturing to the winged monster, “who’re you?”

“Um, no, actually,” Chara interrupted, pointing at Geno. “Who are _both of you?_ And why the hell do some of you know each other?!”

“Well, Geno’s me,” Sans shrugged. “He’s just a different… part of me? A ‘me’ from another timeline.”

“Timeline?” Papyrus asked.

“It’s… complicated, Paps,” Geno muttered. “Frisk can kind of turn back time, or ‘Reset’, back to when they first fell down, creating different timelines, and… yeah.”

“And you’re… from one of these alternate timelines? Is that why you…?”

“Heh, why I look like more of a walking corpse than a skeleton already does?”

“Yes! Though, not as morbidly worded.”

“That would be because of this little murderer, here,” Sans answered, gesturing to Chara. “They took Frisk’s body, Reset a bunch of times, and killed many many monsters.”

“Oh.” Papyrus turned his gaze back to Geno. “… Oh. Is that why you have my scarf?”

“…Yeah.”

“And how did you survive?”

Geno shrugged, fiddling with the end of his scarf. “Teleported here. You can’t really die here.”

“Alright, so you’re a walking, dusting version of the comedian. Cool.” Chara pointed at Error. “Who are you?”

Error raised a brow. “I’m him.”

“You don’t _look like_ him.”

“Really? I couldn’t fucking tell.”

“He’s me, but from a different universe,” Geno supplied. At their confused looks, besides Frisk and Error, he continued, “Outside of our timelines, there’s other universes. These could be exactly like ours, but with one small difference, or entirely new stories with the same people. He’s basically an exact copy of ours, but…” He paused, looking at Error contemplatively. “Actually, I don’t know what the difference would be between-“

Error spread his wings, giving him a deadpanned stare.

“… Right. Wings. Gotcha.”

“Wowie! So those aren’t something you got when you turned into a demon?”

Error sputtered. “I’m not a demon!”

Chara crossed their arms. “You _look like_ a demon.”

“Shut the fuck up! Wings are normal in the Multiverse, you guys are the weird ones!”

“Having wings is _normal?”_ Sans asked incredulously. “Why?”

“I don’t fucking know! They just are! In most AUs, monsters are born with wings. They’re an extension of the soul.”

“So you were _born_ looking like a demon?” Chara teased. Considering they themself were the fucking definition of a _demon child_ , Error took major offense to this.

_“No,_ you little brat. We’re born with _feathered_ wings. Webbed wings are-“ he paused, closing his eyes and turning away. “Never fucking mind. We’re not here for me. I’m a different Geno outcome, and now I’m the Destroyer of universes. Move the fuck on.”

Sans blinked. “Wait, hold on, Destroyer of-?”

“Frisk and I met him because he came here to destroy our universe,” Geno added. “But he _didn’t_ , for whatever reason. Which he never explained.”

“I don’t have to explain shit.”

“So you just… kill?” Papyrus asked meekly. “Just because?”

Well, now he _had_ to explain _something_.

“No, I, fuck.” He ran a hand down his face. This was a lot more social interaction than he was ready for today. It was more social interaction than he was ready for _any_ day. “I do it because I have to.”

“You _have to?”_

“Yes, I- wait, no, fuck you!” Error’s wings flapped angrily. “I agreed to stick around _only_ if I didn’t join your emotional bullshit! I don’t have to explain myself!”

“Jeez, pal.” Sans raised his hands in surrender, then turned to Geno. “You sure get grumpy in the future.”

“SHUT UP!”

“This is… a lot of information at once,” Papyrus commented, scratching his chin. He quickly brightened. “But! This just means the Great Papyrus now has _three_ brothers! Nyeheheh!”

Sans leaned back with a grin. “Your coolness was just too much, bro. You need three bros just to be on par with you.”

“Of course! Though, I am… a bit concerned.” The taller skeleton turned towards Geno. “You… went through a lot. And I’m not happy that you, er, both of you kept this from me!”

“Sorry bro.”

“But… Are you okay? Uh, Geno, I mean. Well, and… other, darker Geno?”

Error raised a brow. “Error. And I’m fine.”

Sans looked between the three of them for a moment. Error could practically see the gears shifting in his head. Before he could ask what he was fucking doing, the regular Sans smiled and stood up. “Welp, I’ma take the kids over here so you guys can chat it out.”

Geno blinked, surprised. “Oh, you don’t have to-“

“Yeah, but I figured you guys would want some privacy, y’know? Don’t worry.” He turned a fairly dark glance towards Chara. “We have some things to chat about as well.”

As the group separated and began talking amongst themselves, Error slouched in his swing, propping his head on his hand lazily. Using slight movements of his wings, he swayed the swing ever so slightly. Papyrus and Geno started talking, and he was sure they tried to include him in their conversation, but Error could care less.

He _was not_ here to get attached to anyone, let alone a Papyrus like his own.

It wasn’t long before Chara was shouting, lecturing Sans for one reason or another before spilling the motives Error had heard a thousand times from a thousand AUs. Humans were mean, monsters were nice, they died trying to help the monsters, and now monsters _weren’t_ so nice.

As if that justified going on a killing spree over and over and over again.

Nothing was particularly interesting anymore. Error had half the mind to portal home right now. It’d save him a lot of trouble, and he could finally go back to watching Undernovela.

Unfortunately, something kept him stubbornly rooted to his swing. Whether that was curiosity, or some twisted version of caring, he didn’t know. He didn’t care much either. It was a lot easier to just accept this is what his mind was telling him to do and move on from there.

“Who’s to say I won’t kill everyone here, right now? I fought Sans before. I could do it again.”

“You’ve fought one Sans, and with Resets and Saves on your side. Do you really think you could take on _three_ without that option?”

The Destroyer snorted but didn’t bother to correct them. Even if the demon child went on a rampage, he wasn’t likely to step in. He didn’t have the energy to interfere anymore.

Still, somehow, that managed to convince the kid. Soon enough, Chara was gone, and Frisk was back in their own body. They made a promise to Reset once more, and never Reset again. Papyrus seemed to be the only one that truly believed the human child would stick to their word.

Error wondered if any of this had happened when he’d left his own Aftertale. Minus Geno’s presence, of course. Had they convinced Chara to give in as they did here? He couldn’t imagine them wanting to go against a literal God of Death at the time, especially if he was frantic in the loss of a loved one. Did Frisk make this same promise, and actually go through with it? The Original Aftertale was living on the Surface, after all. They must have.

They didn’t have Geno to worry about there, though.

And wasn’t that a depressing thought? Even if they did keep their promise, there was no way Geno would be able to leave. Even as he sat there, listening to them plan ways of getting Geno out, he knew it was hopeless. _Geno_ knew it was hopeless. He wouldn’t last five seconds outside of the Save Screen. It would be better to let the monster die in piece than keep him locked up here, in eternal agony, with only their occasional visits to keep him company.

“Are you staying, Error?”

Said glitch blinked, looking up to find Frisk standing before him. They smiled weakly, still shaken by Chara’s sudden disappearance.

He scoffed. “I did what you asked. I’m leaving.”

“I really think you should stay a bit longer.”

“Why the hell are you so persistent?!”

“Well, for one, we still don’t know how to get Geno out, so having your input would be really nice.” He rolled his eyelights, but that didn’t deter them. “I also just think… you’re lonely, and I’d like to help.”

He was silent for a moment before snorting. “You’re really milkin’ this shit, kid. I might hate my fuckin’ job, but I’m not gonna frolic through flowers with you singing some friendship song. I saved your asses, and I’m done now.”

Frisk tilted their head doubtfully. “Even if you did leave right away, I don’t think you’d be _done.”_

“And why, pray tell, not?”

“Your Aftertale got a happy ending without you, right?” He didn’t answer, which was answer enough for them. “You want to see _us_ get that happy ending as well, even if we aren’t actually your universe. If you didn’t care about us, you wouldn’t have given us a chance, or helped out in the end, or even stayed this long. You want to see this Geno get the life you didn’t… right?”

A million responses blared in his mind, all calling the kid out for their bullshit. He wanted to prove them wrong, to claim otherwise, and to laugh in their face. The idea of the Destroyer caring about an AU, a _copy_ AU nonetheless, was as ridiculous as it was hilarious.

But he couldn’t.

_‘This could be your chance, Error.’_

And now that voice was back. Great. It was dimmed, as they usually were outside the Anti-Void, but when something that isn’t your own thoughts speaks in your head, it’s hard not to notice.

“Chance for what?” he grumbled, ignoring the other’s confused looks. He was used to others thinking he was crazy.

_‘For company. Maybe not friends, but acquaintances at the very least.’_

_‘They’ve got a point. This AU could be the only one that_ doesn’t _see you as an immediate threat.’_

_‘Maybe just a minor one.’_

“I don’t _need_ company,” he spat.

“Um, well that’s not what I said, but-“

“Shut up, brat, I’m not talking to you.”

There was a pause, then, “Ah, future-you is also insane. Cool.”

Geno glared at the regular Sans.

_‘You could at least try it.’_

“Fuckin’ hell.” He dragged an exasperated hand down his face, turning his attention back to the actual physical beings around him. “Fine. Whatever. But I hope you know _he,_ ” he gestured to the bloody skeleton, “ain’t gonna be able to leave here.”

Frisk smiled, for real this time. Their eyes sparkled with Determination. “We’ll see about that!”

This day just kept getting longer and longer.

-:(o):-

Error stayed for a little while after Frisk Reset and the skelebros left. Geno had situated himself in front of another glitched screen, watching with apprehension as the child made their way through the Ruins. True to their word, they were merciful, sparing and befriending monsters along the way. The Destroyer could tell Geno still had some major doubts, but the tension was slowly easing in his shoulders, even if ever so slightly.

It was around the time Frisk confronted Toriel in her basement that Error decided he’d had enough. He stood from his swing and stretched, allowing his joints to pop. This gained Geno’s attention.

“I thought you said you’d stay?” he asked, raising a brow.

“Doesn’t fucking mean I’m going to stay the _entire time_.” He rolled his eyelights, waving a hand to open a portal to the Anti-Void.

“You’ll… come back though, right?”

Error regarded the other blankly for a moment. Geno seemed actually _sad_ to see him go.

He guessed that made sense. It was lonely in the Save Screen. He remembered spending countless days yearning for someone to pop in, even if it was the flirtatious god. Any company was better than none at all.

“Yeah yeah, whatever.” He flicked his wings dismissively. “I just don’t want to sit around and watch the same kid do the same story I see in every other universe. I’ve got better things to do.”

“Ah, yeah, that’s fair.” He kicked a foot along the ground, turning his eyelight back to the screen. Frisk was now hugging Toriel tightly, rubbing the goat monster’s back in a comforting gesture.

Error watched the other skeleton shuffle on his feet for a few moments before sighing. He _usually_ had to get rid of all evidence he’d been in an AU like this before leaving, but…

“Feel free to take the swing,” he muttered, turning away to avoid meeting eyes with the other. “Fuckin’ lazy ass. You look like you’re about to fall over.”

With that, Error stepped through the portal and disappeared.

-:(o):-

With another Horrorswap destroyed, and a few episodes of Undernovela (finally) watched, Error sucked it up and returned to the Save Screen nearly a day later. It was still just occupied by Geno, who sat comfortably swaying in the swing, watching the current timeline with a relaxed smile. Error was almost surprised at how at ease Geno looked now. It was a major difference from the tired, reluctant skeleton he’d left behind before. Then he saw Frisk hugging a crying Asriel on the screen.

Ah. So the kid followed through, at least for the first part.

He was also surprised to see Geno without his glitched coverup. The melted half of his skull was on full display, disturbing as it was. The sight had Error cringing, sparks of phantom pains shooting through his skull, chest, and left wing. He knew that injury was just as painful as it looked, and even more so when it was visible to both himself and others.

“What the fuck,” he stated, causing the other skeleton to jump, nearly falling from his seat. His head snapped towards Error before relaxing again.

“Stars, you really don’t know how to knock.”

Error scrunched his face in annoyed confusion. “Fucking _knock?_ Where? It’s the fucking Save Screen, not some horny teenager’s bedroom, asshole.”

Geno laughed. Actually _laughed._ What the fuck had happened in the time he had been gone for the other skeleton to be in higher spirits? It was weird. Not bad, but definitely weird. “I meant hypothetically, but a knock knock joke would be a great way of announcing your presence.”

“Over my dead body.”

Snickering, Geno turned his uneven gaze back to the timeline. An easy smile crossed his face. Error raised a brow and slowly made his way to the other’s side. “It’s been a while since I’ve felt any kind of hope,” Geno practically whispered. Error just stared at him. “It’s… strange. I don’t know if it’s something I should get used to or not. Is that bad?”

The Destroyer blinked incredulously. “How the fuck is that bad?”

“I dunno. Just… not trusting my own hope, if that makes sense? I want this,” he gestured to the screen, “to be true, and it probably is, but…”

Scoffing, Error rolled his eyelights and crossed his arms. “That’s not bad — it’s realistic. You’ve been through hell and back, mostly because of that brat right there. Of course you’re not gonna trust them and their word so easily.”

“So, I shouldn’t hope?”

“I didn’t say that.” His wings shifted uneasily. A loss of hope was damaging to a monster. It could lead to some serious depression or, in worse cases, Falling Down. In winged universes, monsters losing hope were usually easily spotted and given the help they’d need, if the monster didn’t know how to hide their wings. It was hard to hide the way feathers lost their color and luster, or even entire feathers all together, when it was on full display.

Error knew this firsthand.

Webbed wings were rare, but the loss of Hope was one possible way they could be developed.

He couldn’t imagine how many monsters Fell Down in non-winged AUs if all they had to do was not tell anyone.

“Hope’s important to have,” he grumbled. Geno looked up at him, but he avoided looking back. “Just don’t let it run your life. If all you do is hope and expect that hope to be true, to have the good outcome, then when the time comes for it to be crushed, it’ll just hurt more.”

Geno hummed. “So, don’t get your hopes up too much?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s fair, I guess.” Their attention turned back to Frisk and the others. Asriel had broken the Barrier, finally setting monsters free. All the major friends the human had made were gathered in the room just before, happily talking amongst each other while trying to keep their excitement under control. The white skeleton sighed contently. “I guess I’ll just have to wait and see if they keep that promise.”

Now Error glanced at the shorter skeleton. _That_ was a hope he wasn’t planning on commenting on. Geno would either be trapped here forever or would die trying to leave. The monster was eternally stuck at 0 HP, and healing was just as impossible as dying here.

The only other place he could really go to would be the Anti-Void, and _that_ sure as hell wasn’t happening.

Eventually, the skelebros and Frisk were ready to be brought back to the Save Screen, immediately expressing concern over Geno’s skull. Him and Sans played it off well enough, but the worry was still palpable. Error stayed in the background as usual, allowing the others to have their happy moment congratulating Frisk.

Then, the elephant in the room was finally addressed.

“The Great Papyrus had the BRILLIANT idea on how to get Geno out as well!”

Geno smiled a bit somberly. “Oh really?”

Error leaned in subtly to hear it.

“Yes! Nyeheheh! BEHOLD!” With great flare, Papyrus held Frisk up in the air, showcasing the item they had in their hands for the room to see.

Butterscotch Cinnamon Pie, made by Toriel with enough kind intent it healed the recipient to full health.

Error nearly crashed on the spot.

Geno was in a similar state. “I- what?”

“Well,” Frisk hadn’t been placed back on the floor yet, but Papyrus had lowered them more to chest level, “you’re still in the process of dusting, so we thought maybe you just needed to be healed enough to stop it. I know you can’t do that here, but you could immediately after stepping out of the Save Screen. I mentioned the pie because it had the highest healing potential out of any food I’d encountered.”

“Which is when I realized this was the best and most foolproof plan there was! Nyeh!”

That was…

_Exceedingly_ stupid.

Error’s gaze flickered between the pie and Geno repeatedly, almost not believing what he was hearing. Monsters dust _fast._ It wasn’t a slow, dramatic crumbling drawn out for several seconds — it was nearly immediate. Some stronger monsters could hold it off a bit longer, but once it started, it was already finished. The only reason Geno and him had been put together enough to teleport here was because they were simultaneously melting from Determination, which was a slightly more grueling process.

But, even if they did, somehow, manage to get Geno to eat an _entire_ slice of pie before falling into a mushy pile of dusty monster bits, it _still wouldn’t work_ because he was at 0 HP. His HP was not dropping, it was gone. A monster didn’t just start to dust at low health — if that were the case, almost _every_ Sans would be long dead by now.

Out of all the dumbass ideas these people could have, with the brilliance of Sans and the stubbornness of Frisk, _this_ is what they-?

“Would that… actually work?”

Snapping back to attention, Error’s eyelights landed on Geno. The other skeleton’s hands were shaking ever so slightly, one just reaching out for the pie, but stopping halfway. His expression was a battle between genuine hope and uncertainty. He didn’t seem to trust the plan _at all_ , but the idea of getting out — well, Error knew that all too well.

Before he could voice any complaints, Sans stepped forward and laid a hand on Geno’s shoulder. “You don’t have to. It’s not a for sure thing, and we don’t want you to risk your life for it, but it is an immediate option.”

But it _wasn’t_.

“No… No, I want to try.” Geno looked up to his other self. “It’s a risk I’m willing to take. If it doesn’t work, fine. Don’t blame yourselves for that. It really is my decision.”

Fucking hell.

“Error?”

He snapped his annoyed gaze down, finding Frisk, once again, staring up at him. They looked concerned. “You don’t look happy about this.”

He snarled. “I’m _not_ fucking happy about this. You’re all throwing all your eggs into a single basket that doesn’t even have a bottom to it!”

Papyrus deflated a bit. “You don’t think it’ll work?”

“No, of course it won’t-!”

He froze. Everyone suddenly looked _crushed_ , all excitement earlier snuffed out like a candle. Even Frisk had slumped, the pie nearly falling from its plate from the low angle they held it at.

It hit him suddenly that this was extremely important to them. They cared so much about Geno, as his own person, that they were able to brush aside the shitty things he’d done to help him break out of this prison.

They needed this for a _true_ happy ending.

For a moment, it made him wonder how _happy_ of an ending his own Aftertale had gotten, if this was anywhere near how his family and friends reacted.

Still, that didn’t change the fact that this plan wouldn’t work. It was important to them, but he couldn’t just let them willingly walk into Geno’s inevitable demise.

(And why the _hell_ did he care so much?!)

Error took a breath, turning away from them and scrunching his eyes closed. His wings folded tightly around him and over his head, hands coming up to drag down his face. Screaming internally, he reluctantly accepted that yes, he _was_ getting too involved again. Why the fuck not. He’s already balls-deep anyway.

How the _hell_ could they do this?

For once, he willingly focused on the voices in his head.

_‘You could bring Life here?’_

No, for multiple reasons. Life was an extremely busy goddess, working constantly to create souls for the universes Ink and Creators made. She also was practically untouchable in Reapertale, with someone almost always visiting ( _specifically_ Reaper) and her realm was just off limits to unexpected teleporting anyway.

Not to mention she was a creator. He was a destroyer. There was no doubt she’d hate his guts in some way, or at least not trust him enough to literally leave her home with him.

Life was out of the question.

_‘Could the Stars help at all? Maybe Ink could fix him with paint!’_

Definitely not. There was no way he’d drag the squid into this. All of the Star Sanses would never listen to him anyways. Even Blue would likely raise a brow, and he seemed to be the only one dumb enough to have some sort of faith in him.

Why would the destroyer of worlds suddenly want to help out a random AU? A copy, no less. It would raise too many questions, all of which he didn’t want to deal with.

_‘Glitchifying you made you immortal! Maybe-‘_

_“Fuck_ no,” he hissed lowly. Being immortal was _not_ a good thing, and he wouldn’t wish that on another monster or human ever. There was nothing he could offer in that aspect. “I’m not- wait.”

He was Error, the Destroyer of universes. Glitching out had basically integrated him into the multiverse’s system, giving him access to code only he could understand. Though he had only ever used this to identify and delete AUs, it was technically possible for him to _edit them_ as well.

Well, editing was _similar_ to destruction, in a very loose way.

He shifted his wings a little, opening a familiar glitched box of code in front of him. If he did this right, he could give Geno more of a resistance to dusting, allowing their little pie trick to work. All he needed to do was tie a little bit of the code that kept him alive in the Save Screen to Geno’s actual make-up, and maybe raise his HP. That would be more difficult, though. Code was strong but messing with someone’s actual life was usually left to Life herself.

He furrowed his brows, squinting at the numbers glaring back at him from the shade of his wings. He might be able to cheat the system and raise it by a mere decimal. Any health would be enough for the pie’s healing ability to latch onto and…

Stars, this was really pushing it, wasn’t it?

So much for not playing the _hero._ This is why he didn’t like getting involved. When people see good in someone, they _expect_ good, and then they continue to expect that good. He wasn’t good, though, and he felt no desire to live up to anyone’s expectations of himself.

They didn’t have to know about this, though, Error reminded himself, pulling his wings in tighter. A little tweak was all he was doing. They’d be none the wiser.

With a final strand of number dragged into place, he dismissed the screen all together. With a large, overdramatic sigh, Error allowed his wings to droop down again. He pressed his hands together in front of his nose ridge and spun around to meet the others’ expectant looks with a glare.

“If you do it _fast_ ,” he growled, errors and glitches rippling up his body, “then it _might_ work.” At their sudden burst of joy, Error flared out his wings. “ _MIGHT!_ I’ve never seen something like this in the fucking multiverse! I don’t know if it’s possible or not. _Theoretically_ , it could be, but you’ll just… fucking have to figure that out yourselves.”

“Honestly,” Sans shrugged, looking a lot more relieved from this news than he should, “I expected a lot worse news from you.” There was a few nods around the room, save for Papyrus, who proclaimed his unwavering trust in his plan. The blue clad skeleton then turned a questioning glance at the monster of topic. “And you’re _sure_ you wanna do this, Geno?”

“Yeah.” Geno clenched his hands before looking up with a small smile. “This is something I never thought I’d get. Even just the chance of it working is enough for me.”

“Nyeh! Then let’s get going! There’s a sun to see and humans to greet!”

The others laughed at the tallest’s enthusiasm. With the slightest hesitation, they grouped together by the radiating white doorway back to their timeline. Error stayed behind, his wings folded in and hands stuffed stiffly in his jacket pockets. The light from the portal was blindingly bright in the darkness of the Save Screen, reducing the group to mere silhouettes from his view.

Geno shuffled on his feet nervously, a hand reaching up to caress the edge of his melted eye socket. He didn’t get to wallow in his fear for long, as Papyrus was quick to grab said hand tightly, Frisk following suit with his other. The skeleton glanced between the pair’s matching determined looks before smiling with a bit more confidence.

Frisk, still holding the pie in their other hand, glanced over their shoulder at Error with a questioning smile. They didn’t say anything, but he could hear them loud and clear.

“You coming?”

Then, Error was alone.

He’d been waiting for this relief for the last day or so. It was surprisingly absent.

Sighing, his wings slumped in exhaustion. Both his hands came up to run down his face tiredly. The blue tear tracks glowed at his touch, but he summoned no strings. This whole ordeal was a lot more than he’d done for someone other than himself in a long time. It was… a strangely nice feeling. Empty, but still somehow nice.

Logically, he knew he’d interfered far too much. He literally changed the story of a world that was meant to remain untouched by outside forces, and quite drastically. Yet, he just couldn’t bring himself to regret it.

Though here he was, avoiding seeing the fruits of his labor.

The Destroyer could leave right now and never come back, never acknowledge what happened here. It was the easiest solution, which at this point, was the most tempting. Avoiding things is what he did best, after all. Specifically, avoiding people. Squids, parrots, octopi, gremlins, and so many more.

Opening a portal home would be simple. There was no one here to stop him now. No pleading eyes of a small child, or depressed gaze of a skeleton that made him feel like he was looking in a mirror sometimes. Hell, by now, in the time he’s spent just standing in that familiar black space thinking, Error could probably get away with just checking the AU’s code to see if Geno was even still alive.

Yellow eyelights stared harshly at the white portal before him, glaring as though it somehow offended him.

After a few long minutes (had it really only been minutes?), Error shook his head and turned away. “No,” he grumbled to himself, walking in the opposite direction. “I’m not supposed to be here anyway. I did my shit. They’ll have their happy ending without me, just like…” He sighed, raising his hand to open a portal to the Anti-Void. It didn’t matter. He didn’t belong here, and that was just fine with him. He didn’t _want_ that to change.

He didn’t want another universe.

At least one Geno got a good ending, whether he lived or died.

“Geno?”

Error froze.

No.

He was alone. No one else was in the Save Screen. Everyone had left, and there was no way _he_ was here. It was his own fucked up mind just playing tricks on him due to the shitty area he was in. It was a flashback, a hallucination, a _memory._

Nothing else.

“Where… you… Fuck, tell me you didn’t…”

_Nothing. Else._

But it fucking wasn’t. Because of _course_ it wasn’t.

His hands shook, wings trembling. Error couldn’t tell if it was out of fear or anger.

There were no footsteps behind him, but the voice was so much closer. Error almost wished he could chalk it up as another voice in his head, but it was far too clear for a voice outside of his Anti-Void. “Error… He’s not dead. I can tell. Where is he?”

He clenched his fists, gritting his teeth before turning to face the newly arrived God of Death. Reaper floated in the empty space mere feet from the Destroyer, his expression concerned but still stern. His cloak rippled around him like smoke, curling around the inky black feathers of his wings, unfolded so casually behind him. The darkness of the Save Screen seemed to welcome him, embracing his figure as though he’d always belonged there — as though he’d been there many times before.

Error’s eyelights burned in the molten lava that was his eye sockets, his look of absolute _malice_ practically sending Reaper to his own grave. The other skeleton jolted back at the look, his empty sockets widening in surprise.

_“FUcK oFf,”_ Error growled, his voice littered with quivering static and pitch. He didn’t hesitate upon seeing Reaper’s confusion, snapping out his wings and disappearing into his portal.

As the gateway closed off abruptly behind him with a resounding _snap_ , Error collapsed onto his knees in front of his red beanbag. Wavering eyelights stared down at the red cloth as his hands bunched the material between his fingers. He watched as the fabric folded and dipped in his hold, the seams stretching, showcasing the soft beans inside it like fish pressed against a net. He focused on that, needing anything other than his own traitorous thoughts.

Of course, he couldn’t escape anything that easily.

_‘Oooooh, Error done been replaced!’_

_‘So much for DestructiveDeath.’_

_‘Damn. Didn’t think Reaper was the kind of guy to replace one Geno with the next.’_

_‘I’m sure he has his reasons! Maybe he’s just looking out for someone that reminds him of his lost love?’_

_‘Ooooor, he gave up looking for Error-Geno and just decided to get another one.’_

_‘Maybe nothing he ever said was true and he was just flirty with everyone. The only difference here is he could touch Geno.’_

_‘Oh, that’s a good point!’_

_‘Oop, oh well. I don’t care what his motive is. Afterdeath is so much cuter anyway, wings or not.’_

For once, Error didn’t say anything. He didn’t interrupt them or yell at them (as if that would stop it anyway). He merely let them continue their conversation, dropping his head to the plush beanbag below. He didn’t have the energy to fight them anymore. Let them have their fun. It’s not as though they were _wrong._

He laughed bitterly, scrunching his eyes closed. Of course, Reaper was there. Why wouldn’t he be? The God could hardly keep his hands to himself on a good day. Why would he not seek out another Geno to torment when the first one wasted away?

He was silly to believe all that was saved for just _him._ All the flirting, the suggestive wiggles of his brow, the stupid puns. All the times he eased up and relaxed, comforted him through the worst of his days, the soft gazes and sweet nothings. Holding hands, rubbing his back, embracing the two of them in dark feathers as though to shield him from the multiverse itself.

_Of course_ that wasn’t exclusive to only him. Reaper had an entire multiverse of souls to woo. Error shouldn’t have expected that he’d been the only one he’d focus on. Surely there were others the god could touch as well. Why would he be special?

_‘He is continuing to visit the original Aftertale, though, isn’t he? That must mean something.’_

_‘This could just be a total misunderstanding.’_

_‘Then again, he did reveal himself to them in the end. It might just be expected of him now.’_

_‘Maybe he’s lonely. Not being able to be around many people has to have a toll of someone. Any Geno knows some company is better than nothing.’_

_‘He’s still seeing a whole new Geno, though. He looked a little more concerned than just new friends.’_

_‘Ugh. I hate drama.’_

Error sunk further into his beanbag, pressing the fabric to his eyes frustratedly.

It didn’t matter why. He didn’t want to know. Let the asshole do what he wanted. He didn’t care anymore.

Though, some dark and hateful part of him wished he’d never given that Aftertale a chance after all.

He made a mental note _never_ to go back to that AU again. It wasn’t too hard to remember. He just chalked it up besides his own universe and Underswap.

Error didn’t move from his spot for the rest of that “day”, allowing the voices to have free reign in his mind.

-:(o):-

Wings were the hardest part of making dolls.

They were the most satisfying in the end, with their soft look and loose mobility allowing for many expressive poses, but they were a pain in the ass to make. You’d think after he’d made so many, Error would be better at them now.

Well, _better_ , maybe, but efficiency was still up in the air.

In the last few days, Error remained in his Anti-Void, uncaring of the multiverse outside. The few additional AUs Ink made weren’t tipping anything too dangerously, so he couldn’t bring himself to give a shit. Instead, he hid here, grumpily wallowing in an all too familiar misery while new dolls piled up around him. Contrary to what many believed, he didn’t _just_ stuff his creations full of the dust of monsters. At least, not anymore. Sometimes, sewing together little toys was just for his own boredom. He didn’t usually keep many of them, choosing to instead dump them off in other AUs (most likely Littletale or Undertale).

He also didn’t _just_ make Sanses. There were plenty of other monsters hung up in his web of death above him, but for side projects like this, it was sometimes better to just do animals. It wasn’t always sensible to give AU children plushies of a Horrortale Sans after all.

Surrounding him were plushies ranging anywhere from a Sans character to little mice, all thrown carelessly on top of each other and filled with soft stuffing. Error was currently fumbling with the wings of an Underfell Papyrus doll, trying to sew together each small feather.

Did he have to make individual feathers, slightly stuffed themselves, for each doll? Probably not, but they looked nicer in the end, so he didn’t care. It was just annoying getting the needle through such small pieces of fabric sometimes.

Usually, he wouldn’t be too picky about this particular plush, since it wasn’t something he could give away, but the idea of dropping it _in_ Underfell to cause issues was too tempting.

With a heavy sigh, Error squinted down at the cloth wings in hand, the actual body done and resting in his lap. He carefully threaded the red string back and forth, keeping his fingers steady and even.

_‘Oooh, what if Reaper has like, a whole harem of Genos?’_

_‘There should definitely be more Genos in the multiverse, I would think.’_

_‘That’d be fun!’_

His grip tightened on the needle, but he did his best to ignore them.

Error didn’t know _why_ this was such a fun topic for the voices lately. It was annoying and pissing him off, but any attempts to ward them off just led to painful jabs at himself. It was easier to disregard them completely until they finally moved on.

Stars, he just wanted them to _move on._

It wasn’t the only thing they were bringing up — more just the most reoccurring topic. They also liked to talk about how the new Aftertale was doing (not that they truly knew, as they were stuck here with him), or the fact their Destroyer was _broken_ and couldn’t do his job right. Which was utterly ridiculous. He could do his job fucking swell. It was just that _specific_ AU.

But, no, they don’t listen to him. They just talk over the top of him anyway.

The needle slid out of place for the hundredth time, missing the second layer of fabric all together on the little feather. Error growled to himself, working to pull the string back out and rethread the needle.

“ _Funkin’_ stupid _darn_ thing,” he hissed, narrowing his eyes at his hands. He rearranged the fabric together to align how he wanted before-

Wait.

“Stars _dang_ in, Fresh, get the _funk_ out!” the Destroyer yelled, slamming his project down on his legs and flaring out his webbed wings. He glared around him, searching for the eyesore of color he expected to see. It wasn’t hard to find him amongst all the white, standing casually with a smile on his face a few feet away from his beanbag. The 90’s skeleton had his hands casually slipped in his pants pockets, a skateboard leaning against his hip, parrot-like wings folded neatly behind him.

“Wassup, Err-bruh!” he greeted, glasses changing to a simple _HELLO._

Error darkened his glare, pointing the talon of his left wing threateningly towards the other. “Get out, you _funking_ parasite.”

“That’s so unrad, though, bro!”

“I don’t care!”

“Ya can’t just kick out some radicle bros from your crib!”

“I can, and I _will._ Get out, Fresh!” Stubbornly, Error whipped around to focus back on his project. He knew the asshole wouldn’t leave that easily, unfortunately, especially if Error was in a bad mood. For some odd reason, Fresh decided he liked to _help_ or something, though his presence did little more than annoy him further.

_‘Liar.’_

“Shut _up,_ ” he grumbled, sticking the needle through the cloth feather with much more aggression than really needed. If he could ignore a dozen talking assholes in his head, he could ignore one outside of it. Fresh would get bored and leave eventually.

As if to prove him wrong, Fresh strolled up to his chair and sat down on the floor beside him. His right wing unfolded to wrap around Error’s own, careful to keep a distance. “C’mon, bruh, I came with a surprise n’ everything!” he insisted, raising a ridiculously thick eyebrow as if to entice the other.

Error refused to respond, his eye twitching in restrained annoyance.

_‘Ooooh, a surprise you say?’_

_‘Damn, is this takin’ an ErrorFresh turn?’_

_‘No! He’s just being nice!’_

Glasses flashing to _PLZ?,_ the skeleton moved in closer and leaned his weight on the Destroyer’s beanbag. Error’s fists tightened their grip and he clenched his eye sockets, but finally turned to the taller monster. “What the _funk_ do you want?”

“Language, dude!” Still, Fresh lit up at his sudden acceptance and hopped up to his knees. “G-bro, c’mon over!”

Furrowing his brows, Error glanced back at what Fresh was talking to. Now that the other had moved positions, his colorful wing slipped away to show another figure in his Anti-Void.

At first, that annoyance and anger revved up to a whole new level at seeing a wingless Geno slowly walking their way, eyelight glancing curiously around his space. The fact that Fresh had brought the _exact_ source of his issues straight to his home pissed him off more than anything. This was supposed to be the one place to get _away_ from shitty situations, not have them dragged to his front door.

However, after a moment, that negativity burned away and was replaced by _fear._

Staring at Geno, all he could see was himself, crouched and crying and screaming for help on the very floor they stood upon now.

That small plush feather was most definitely ruined now, with how tight he was handling it.

After everything he’d done for that Aftertale to _avoid_ Geno ending up here, he was here anyway. Logically, he knew that wasn’t so bad. Geno was right in front of him, not lost in the white space. He wouldn’t be here for very long. Error would make sure of it.

Still, the irony was not lost on him, and he _hated it._

Geno looked much better, though. The whole portion of his skull that was once a melted mess was reformed and smooth. The eye socket was still droopy, looking like melted wax more than solid bone, but it was miles ahead of what it was before. His clothes were still white, but that seemed to be more of a personal preference, since they so obviously were different from what he wore before. That is, there wasn’t a large blood stain across the front. That red scarf was a little tighter around his neck, though. Error didn’t know if that was also a preference, or just a meager comfort in this strange, eerie place.

That white eyelight finally focused in on Fresh and Error, and Geno offered a small smile and wave.

“Hey…” he muttered, rubbing the back of his skull. “I’m sorry for just popping in like this. You never showed up again, and I, uh, wanted to talk to you about some things.”

Error didn’t answer him. He just continued to stare tensely, all too aware of the silent presence of Fresh also beside him.

Geno shuffled. “Uh, right. Is that alright? It won’t take long, I promise.”

He didn’t want to talk with this skeleton _at all_. In fact, besides talking to Reaper, this was the _last thing_ he wanted to do.

But he had a feeling the other wouldn’t take no for an answer, and neither would Fresh, the nosy bastard.

“Whatever,” he huffed under his breath, turning back around to stare at the ruined stitches of that single feather. He heard the telltale shuffling of feet as Geno stepped closer. He came up to the same side as Fresh, sitting down between them with his legs crossed. He fumbles with the hem of his pants for a moment, squinting at his hands as he struggled to find words.

There’s a tense silence amongst them. The only one seemingly unaffected by the awkwardness is Fresh, who sits stock-still with a straight face and an ellipsis across his glasses.

Finally, Geno sighs and looks up to Error, who avoided his gaze. “Reaper told me what happened,” he said softly. Error scowled, his wings instinctually folding inward more. “He’s also told me that there was… another Geno he liked before he met me. He was very clear about it when we had hung out together the first few times. I’m just… making a wild guess here, because of, um, everything, but are you…?” He paused, glancing at Fresh a bit uncertainly.

Error was a bit surprised at his hesitation, clearly uncertain of what he could or couldn’t say with Fresh there. But, at this point, it wasn’t as if Fresh wouldn’t put the pieces together anyway. And really, what would the parasite do? People don’t trust him almost as much as they don’t like Error. He was an anomaly in the multiverse that no one understood, and he wasn’t exactly nonthreatening.

“The first Geno?” he finished for the other, still not meeting his gaze. Fresh sat up a bit straighter, his glasses shifted to a simple _OH._ The lost Geno was a major topic of the Multiverse. Many Sanses or others were concerned with the fact that an original universe could so easily loose its main character with no explanation, and rightfully so. Apparently, while Error was suffering in the Anti-Void, most of the Sanses had been trying to find him. It didn’t take them long for most to give up, but the idea was still there.

That Geno had disappeared without a trace. It set many on edge, and it continues to do so.

In the present, this Geno winced a bit and looked away.

“Yeah, I thought so,” he muttered. “You said you were a future version of me or something, and your reaction to Reaper being there… Stars, I can’t imagine how that felt.”

“So he did replace me then,” Error grumbled, more a statement than a question. For some reason, despite already knowing this, a suffocating grip tightened around the fragment of a soul he still had. It was worse having it confirmed. He hated how weak that made him feel.

“No.”

Eye sockets widening, Error looked at Geno incredulously. “What? The _funk_ do you mean, no?”

Geno shook his head firmly. “I mean no. He mentioned it at the very beginning. He found me because of my undying state, and immediately froze when he came into the Save Screen. Honestly, he looked on the verge of crying. We talked for a while, and he made it very clear that he had no romantic intentions with me, he just knew being in the Save Screen was a living hell because of what he learned from _you._ ” Shifting sideways a bit, Geno leaned forward to address Error better. “He’s why Frisk and I weren’t really overly questioning your appearance. We were really more confused by the fact you were there in the first place. Not many people came by the Save Screen for an insignificant copy AU.”

Error blinked, unsure of what to say. After a moment, he glared untrustingly back. “So, what, you’re just friends? Big deal. That’s all Reaper and I were anyway.”

Scoffing, Geno crossed his arms. “Sure. Because the stories of you two cuddling in the darkness was _so_ platonic.” Before he could sputter his protests, the wingless skeleton continued, “And no, we’re… _dating_ now, but that wasn’t Reaper’s intentions. Honestly, I didn’t even really accept it until a few days ago, because I had been so confident I’d destroy my AU by then. He came out of the Save Screen scared that he’d been too late to… well, I’m assuming he was talking about what happened to made you disappear and turn into this.” He gestured to Error himself weakly. “That’s why he was a bit out of it when he saw you, by the way.”

“You didn’t… tell him anything, did you?” The last thing he needed were the Stars and Reaper on his ass about his Universe, and how he “ran away” or something. He wasn’t going back. He had his reasons, and he didn’t feel like sharing them.

Geno shook his head. “No. I figured you wanted that to be secret. All four of us agreed to keep that on the downlow. We did have to explain that you helped us out a little, though.”

_“Great.”_

“Is that really so bad?” Geno challenged, raising a brow. “It sounds like Reaper and others are questioning your villainy anyways. He actually seemed rather happy to know you had some good in you that wasn’t destroying worlds.”

“Pff, but that’s been known for a while, brosif,” Fresh waved his hand with a smile, leaning back on his other arm. Error glared at him, but it didn’t phase the taller skeleton. “Errbro’s a cool dude when he wants ta be.”

“ _Funking_ shut up,” he growled, voice glitching in contempt. He then turned that heated scowl back to the other monster. “I don’t see how this doesn’t mean he _funking_ replaced me. Sure, it wasn’t the _radhole’s_ intension, but he still _funking_ started dating you eventually. That changes literally nothing.”

Surprisingly, Geno just rolled his eyes. Error would have been infuriated if he wasn’t so shocked with the other’s actions. People don’t just brush off the Destroyer’s words when he could so easily shatter their soul. “He didn’t replace you because, despite everything, I’m _not_ you.”

Error blinked, taken aback. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I’m not you. We may have the same background and such, but something must’ve been different because Reaper comments all the time on how different I acted. We don’t fight as much as you two did apparently, I don’t get angry at his flirting, more… flustered. Annoyed, maybe. You apparently have some sort of chocolate addiction? I don’t know. We’re the same, but different.”

For a moment, Error remembered when he first found this Aftertale’s code. Geno’s make-up had been so similar, but not the exact same. His personality was different, less prone to anger. It was something so tiny he would have never expected it to have any sort of impact on how things worked out.

But what was difference? What between him and this Geno had diverged and created two separate beings? Their story was exactly the same. Geno had even been going down the same path Error had. What was…?

His wings twitched. A ghost of a pain long gone sparked at the base of his right wing, bringing back the memories of bone snapping and feathers littering a tiled white floor.

Slumping in his seat, Error ran his hands down his face. Yeah, that might do it.

“So, you’re saying he essentially fell in love again, or whatever,” Error muttered into his palms. He heard a hum of confirmation beside him. “Great. We done now?” He really hoped so. Though knowing Reaper didn’t, in fact, have a harem of Genos to fall back on was a _little_ reassuring, he also didn’t exactly feel like sitting around and chatting with his new boy toy.

He wasn’t jealous. He knew that for certain. Jealousy was never part of the equation. Error had long since gotten over the relationship he and Reaper had, whatever it may or may not have been. Really, knowing that, in a way, Reaper had as well was… relieving. It took off a weight from his shoulders he had no idea was even there. Nothing about what happened between them was fake or overplayed, and Reaper wasn’t just an asshole looking for attention. That was all he needed to know.

That didn’t mean he wasn’t still a little salty with this Geno. Somehow, knowing he was so much more calm than Error had been, that he and Reaper were actual _friends_ first, datemates later, was frustrating some part of his soul. He didn’t like to be reminded that _he_ was the broken one, not everyone else.

They had their chat. Now, he just wanted to be left alone again.

Geno seemed to sense this, judging by the way he shifted uncomfortably, but he also didn’t move to leave. Fun. “No. I also wanted to ask if you’d come back?”

Really, this conversation was taking so many surprising turns, wasn’t it?

“Why, pray tell, would you want me back in your AU?” Sitting up, Error pinned Geno with a blank stare, leaning his elbows on his knees. “You realize the only reason I’d ever need to return is if I had to get rid of it, right?”

Frustratingly, both Fresh and Geno looked at him with disbelieving expressions. The usual _BRUH_ on Fresh’s glasses had a whole new ring to it, and Error was not appreciating it.

“After everything you’ve done, I highly doubt my universe is on the kill list anymore,” Geno said confidently, a small smirk gracing his teeth. “I don’t know why you destroy worlds, but it doesn’t seem to be just _because_. There’s a reason for it, whatever it is, and I don’t think my universe applies to those reasons anymore.”

Never before has Error despised a Sans so much. Why were they all observant know-it-alls?

(Or he was just that see-through. That was an option as well, considering Blue also called him out on some inner kindness.)

He didn’t necessarily _want_ people to see him as a bad guy. It was tiring fighting everyone so often for something he _knew_ was needed. Being treated as the heartless murderer he _had_ been before just made the idea of hiding in the Anti-Void forever all too tempting. He was alone, which was fine by him, but add on the responsibility of ending thousands of lives almost every day? Error almost wished he could go back to being that heartless murderer.

However, telling them of the necessity of Destruction didn’t seem right either.

Wouldn’t it be better to believe the Destroyer acted on his own evil agenda rather than knowing their deaths were vital for everyone else’s survival?

Maybe it wasn’t. Maybe he was doing this all wrong, but after spending so much time and effort playing into that role, he found he couldn’t care anymore. This was what Error was meant to do. How he did it didn’t matter anymore. In the end, it meant he was generally left alone. He’d gratefully take that treatment.

Plus, he, like every other Sans in existence, was stubborn. He chose this, and he was living the consequences. Oh well.

“Frisk and Paps want you to come back,” Geno continued when the dark skeleton didn’t. “They were both upset when ‘Demon Geno’ never showed up. They even tried telling the others about you. Undyne thinks you sound weak as heck.” He chuckled, finally moving to his knees. “I know you probably don’t want company or anything, but I dunno. Just thought I’d throw the offer out there anyway. I can’t imagine it’s very fun being alone all the time. Especially… here.”

Error snorted. “Not very different from the Save Screen here, huh?” he asked rhetorically, muttering mostly to himself. Finally, after such a long and ridiculous conversation, he actually looked at his project. The feather he’d been working on was scrunched due to the thread getting pulled to much. With a quick adjustment, it was easily flattened out.

“It’s just a different shade of isolation, honestly,” Geno agreed, standing up completely. “Though you have more things here, I guess.” With a raised brow, he gestured vaguely to Error’s TV. Error figured that questioning glance was well deserved. He’d never really been one for watching TV before coming here, though, in his defense, there wasn’t much else to watch but Mettaton before. At least here, he had an entire multiverse worth of entertainment.

Fresh popped to his feet as well, kicking his skateboard to the floor with a loud _clank_ that had Error wincing and bunching up his wings. Fresh didn’t seem to care about his grouchy scowl, just smiling and flapping his wings thoughtlessly. “Aight, Gen-bro! Ya good, now, dude?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

Suddenly, a question came to mind, making the glitchy skeleton narrow his eyes in distrust. “Why the _funk_ is Fresh here anyway? How the _heck_ do you two know each other?”

“Oh, Fresh is the only other one to show up in the Save Screen too,” Geno answered with a shrug, slipping his hands into his coat pockets. “He wasn’t there as often as Reaper, but still.”

“Gen-bro and I go way back!” Fresh said cheerfully. “He’s a rad dude to chat with, and when he was all up’n talkin’ about ya, I just happened to be able ta hop on into your crib whenever I felt the need ta. Figured it wouldn’t hurt takin’ the brotato with me if he needed ta talk it up with you.”

“Okay, no, you are _not_ allowed to just _hop in here_ ,” Error growled, flicking his wings unhappily. “You just _funking_ do it ‘cause you’re a _cool dude._ ” Geno had the _audacity_ to snort at that, earning him a red and yellow middle finger.

“Nah, man! We’re bros, there ain’t no denying it, my glitchy dude!”

“We are _not_ bros!”

Fresh snapped his fingers and shot him two finger guns. “ _Totally_ bros.”

“FRESH!”

“Okay, we’re gonna go.” The shortest skeleton chuckled to himself, stepping between the two before they started a fight. He put his hand casually on Fresh’s shoulder, earning a confused glance from both of them. Fresh didn’t push him away, and Geno didn’t seem to notice anyway. “Think about the offer at least?” he questioned again. “Even if it’s not my universe, it would still be nice to chat every so often, yeah?”

Blinking, Error stared back at him for a long moment. When it became clear neither would leave without some sort of confirmation, he groaned dramatically and fell back into his beanbag. “ _Fine._ I’ll _funking_ think about it. Now get out.”

With a grateful smile, Geno walked away with the parrot asshole, who spared him a teasing salute in goodbye. Before he knew it, the Destroyer was alone once again.

Well, sort of.

_‘Aw, Baby’s first friend! I’m so proud.’_

_‘Baby is a very strange title for him, but okay.’_

_‘I still think Blue is his first friend!’_

_‘Little weird to be buddies with your ex’s new BF, but I do like the brotherly vibes happening.’_

“Shut the fuck up,” he snapped at them for the first time in days. Surprisingly, they actually listened this time. With a heavy sigh and dragging a hand down his face, Error slouched back into his seat and continued working.

Somehow, he didn’t feel quite as miserable anymore.

**Rando Bonus Sketch**

**Author's Note:**

> Sketch doesn't really fit anywhere specifically, since Geno has his glitches, but it was something I drew for this fic anyway so have it why not.
> 
> I apologize for any mistakes my gawd, I've been working on that last bit almost all day. I'd go back and reread it all together, but ha,  
> n o p e.
> 
> Come yell at me:  
> Instagrams:  
> [paintedkinzy18](https://www.instagram.com/paintedkinzy18/)  
> [nerdykinzy18](https://www.instagram.com/nerdykinzy18/)  
> Tumblr (That I never use oops):  
> [painted-kinzy18](https://painted-kinzy18.tumblr.com/)  
> I also now have a Deviantart, purely so I can post art I can actually put up in AO3 that isn't Tumblr:  
> [painted-kinzy18](https://www.deviantart.com/paintedkinzy18)


End file.
